


What we are pt 6

by AXEe



Series: What we are [6]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-06 10:26:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8746903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: When heroes fall, it's up to those closest to them to pick up the pieces.  AU of "Falling" and "Worlds Finest"





	1. Fallout

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Finally Chapter One of Part Six of What we are has been posted! Now we're going to do something a little different here, instead of doing a straightforward AU of "Falling" I decided to focus on what the show didn't, namely the aftermath, how Alex and Kara (and Astra) deal with fallout from all this mess, and obviously since Astra's there J'onn didn't reveal himself as an alien, so "Manhunter" will play out differently then in canon, hope that makes sense, so here we go...

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I’ve fallen out of favor  
And I’ve fallen from grace  
Fallen out of trees  
And I’ve fallen on my face

\--Florence + the Machine “Falling”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

_“What was once a symbol of hope has since become a symbol of fear. Supergirl’s arrival at a crime scene at West National City Bank earlier this morning was met with fear and suspicion instead of cheers as both the hostages and the suspects fled at the sight of her. Some say that Supergirl was under a mind-alter drug when she attacked the city, but questions still remain, if she turned on us once, can she turn on us again?”_ I scowled as I switched to another broadcast

 _“…other questions are still being asked about the mysterious ‘Superwoman’ who defeated Supergirl during her reign of terror, Superwoman recently helped Supergirl defeat the parasite entity several weeks ago, and now—in the wake of Supergirl’s terrifying attack on the city—seems to be ‘filling in’ as it were for the Girl of Steel. Just today, the Dark Angel, as Superwoman has also been called, was seen stopping a high-speed chase on the NCH. But questions still remain, who is this mysterious, and possibly dangerous, individual?”_ I turned off the TV and looked over at Astra

“You know, you don’t look at all dangerous when you’re trying to figure out my blender,” I said “what are you trying to make anyway?” I wondered, she didn’t answer and kept fiddling with the blender, I got up and slowly approached her “Astra,” I said, she didn’t turn around, but her shoulders tightened up “Astra, please,” I said softly, she slowly turned around, tears in her eyes “oh, Astra” I sighed, I reached out and pulled her into a hug

“I did the one thing I swore I would never do” she whispered

“You didn’t hurt Kara,” I reminded her “you saved her”

“It doesn’t feel that way” she said

“I know,” I said, I nodded to the blender “what are you trying to make?” I asked, she looked back and chuckled

“Oh, _my’ra_ broth,” she said “it was something of a staple on Krypton, there was no exact recipe, but almost everyone’s parents—or in my case aunt—knew how to make it,” she chuckled “mother gave me her own recipe just before she passed into Rao’s light, she told me that she was giving it to me instead of Alura, because my sister could never quite get it right and perhaps I’d have better luck,” she wiped at her eyes “I used to make it for Kara when she sick,” she explained wistfully “Alura tried to make it herself once, using Mother’s recipe, but…she never could get it right, there was always a certain…something lacking” she explained

“And now you’re trying to make a version of it for Kara” I realized

“Is that so wrong?” she asked, almost defensively, I ran my hands up and down her shoulders

“No,” I said “not at all,” I nodded to the bender “how can I help?” I asked, she nodded to the blender

“Tell me how to operate this infernal machine” she ordered, I chuckled and placed a kiss against her shoulder

“OK”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

I took a breath as Alex knocked on Kara’s door, since that debacle with Maxwell Lord’s synthetic version of kryptonite last week she hasn’t spoken to either of us, and only slightly more so to James who remained by her side even as her mind became addled by Lord’s poison

“Kara! I know you’re in there!” Alex called out “c’mon, it just us, just open the door, please?”

“Go away! I’m busy!” Kara called out

“You’re sitting on your couch, half dressed, and eating a box of doughnuts,” I called out “that is not ‘busy’!”

“I’m going to use my key, Kara!” Alex threatened, the door finally opened and Kara leaned out, looking tired and depressed, and I longed for the time when all I had to do was tell her a joke or make a silly face and she’d laugh and be all right again

“C’mon in” Kara mumbled as she held the door open

“Where’s James?” I asked, once we were inside, Kara shrugged in response

“Don’t really know,” she said “probably better that way”

“We brought you something” Alex said, she gestured to the thermos I held in my hands

“It’s _my’ra_ broth,” I explained “well, an approximation of it anyway, I used ghost peppers to mimic the an’ya spice” I added, Kara took the thermos and opened it, inhaling the scent of the broth

“You used to make this for me whenever I was sick,” she said, I nodded as Alex and I sat down “did you want some?” Kara asked as she poured the broth into a cup and used her heat vision to heat it up

“I’m good,” Alex replied, she glanced at me “you can some” she offered, I shook my head as Kara came over and sat down next to us on the couch, her body language was stiff, tense, ready to flee at any second

“Why are you here?” she asked as she sipped the broth

“Because we’re your family” Alex answered

“But…,” Kara started “the things I said to you, to both of you, you…you should hate me right now”

“Kara,” I began “we are you family, your blood, we don’t just abandon you simply because you said something mean to us”

“But I hurt you!” she suddenly yelled, getting and beginning to pace, the broth sloshing in the cup “I, I insulted you, Aunt Astra I said that you, you were treating Alex like a, a…sex toy!”

“Yes you did,” I confirmed “and I still forgive you,” I stood up and gently grabbed her shoulders “there is a saying, one I told Alex once ‘we can become mended—at the broken places’, this is not a step back, this is not a…flaw in your makeup, this is a chance for you to accept these feelings and learn from them” I explained, she sniffled and suddenly threw her arms around me, sobbing into my shoulder like she did when she was young. And as I held her, as Alex joined us, I knew that this time, unlike those other times, something a simple as a hug and some broth would not fix this hurt, no matter how much I wished it.

But it was a start


	2. The Last Children of Krypton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Astra does some shopping, has a talk with Alex and James, and then Superman appears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! An update to Part Six of What we are! (yay) and now a little action before we get back to the angst

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

“Did you want the milk with pink label or the red?” I asked

“ _Red label,_ ” Alex answered, I grabbed the appropriate carton and placed it into the basket, shifting my cell phone to my other ear as I did “ _did you get the—_ ”

“Yes, I got you that awful cereal you like” I interrupted, she chuckled

“ _Sorry,_ ” she said “ _how are you doing, shopping by yourself I mean_ ”

“I’m doing well,” I replied as I stopped at the check stand “much better than the first time I attempted this”

“ _I’ll say, I never someone could max out their checking account on the first go_ ”

“On a more positive note, we had food for a month”

“ _True_ ”

“Have you talked to Kara today?” I asked as the line moved forward slightly

“ _No, not really, I invited her to dinner tonight, but I don’t know if she’ll come_ ”

“She will if you invite James” I pointed out, Alex chuckled

“ _Already did,_ ” she said “ _I was going to invite Winn too_ ”

“No,” I said “don’t bother, I doubt that he’s available”

“ _Hmm, you’re probably right,_ ” she grumbled “ _I still can’t believe he’s dating that chick, I mean c’mon they had sex in a supply closet!_ ”

“And I reiterate, she is merely using him for her own pleasure, and unfortunately Winn can’t see it” I explained as I paid for my purchases and walked out of the store

“ _I know,_ ” Alex sighed “ _oh, damn, Hank’s calling me, I’d better go, bye_ ”

“Good bye, love” I hung up and began to walk towards the apartment, the store wasn’t particularly far from the apartment, and even if it was, I could simply fly home

“Astra! Hey, wait up!” I turned, seeing James running to catch up with me

“Hello, James” I greeted

“Hey,” he said “I saw you in the store, but I guess you didn’t see me”

“I did not, I apologize” he smiled and shook his head

“That’s all right,” he said “hey, listen, I was thinking about inviting you and Alex over for dinner tonight”

“That’s ironic; Alex told me she was thinking of inviting you and Kara over for dinner tonight” I explained. There was a sudden squeal and an SUV pulled across in front of us. Three masked men emerged and charged into the building we were standing in front of which bore the sign ‘West Coast Bank’

“Looks like that’s your cue” James remarked, as civilians panicked and scattered as the thieves ran back out, each carrying two bags filled to bursting with money. I ducked into an alleyway and changed my shirt. Since I decided to ‘fill in’ for Kara last week Winn had offered to make me a costume, I had politely, and then not so politely, refused, opting instead for my normal civilian clothing, the only concession I made was a black t-shirt bearing the Crest of El in red, and that was only after Alex insisted that it would make people trust me more if they saw that I was wearing the same symbol as Superman and Surpergirl.

I took off into the air, swiftly looping around to land directly in front of the thieves. The leader dropped both of the bags he was holding and drew a weapon; I felt a spike of genuine fear go through me as I saw it. A particle rifle, I was still puzzling over _how exactly_ thieves were able to get a hold of advanced weaponry like that when the blast struck me in the chest and flung me across the street. The leader took aim again, firing at a building behind me, turning I could see a series of widening cracks suddenly start to splinter across the buildings surface. I surged to my feet, absently noticing James sprinting forwards towards the building himself, for a second I thought him mad, until I saw what he was doing

“Come out! Out! Out!” he bellowed as he rushed inside, ushering people out as quickly as he could, even as the building began to crumble around him, I quickly landed next to him “go! There might still be people inside!” he ordered

“Get the others clear!” I ordered back and rushed inside, using my x-ray vision to check every floor. It was an apartment building, a small one, most of the apartments were empty since this was a weekday, the few that weren’t were rapidly emptying “this way!” I ordered, ushering people down the stairs “quickly! Don’t panic!” in seconds the entire building was empty, but it was still collapsing. I quickly flew out and around to where the blast had hit it, I reached up and tried my best to simply hold it up, which was difficult as the masonry began to crumble beneath my hands.

“Need a hand?” a voice asked, I looked up, glancing over my shoulder to see Clark Kent, otherwise known as Superman, floating besides me, he quickly joined me, pressing his own hands against the concrete, and between the two of us we managed to hold the building steady until it finally stopped shaking. Moving away from the building (which remained standing) I took a breath

“Thank you, Clark” I breathed, he nodded

“Can we talk?” he asked, I nodded and after glancing down to see that James and the occupants of the building were all right (the thieves were also already in police custody, their weapon now laying in a mangled, melted heap on the ground)

"Your handiwork?" I asked, Clark nodded

"Can we talk?" he repeated, I nodded and took off after him


	3. Supers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Astra and Superman have a talk, then she and Alex get some worrisome news

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HA-HA, Part Six of What we are has finally been updated!!!!! I want to thank AnnetheFire, whose comment was the final kick in the pants I needed to post this short update. Now a bit of a programing change, I finally figured out the flaw in this fic, instead solely focusing on the aftermath of "Falling" (which would be too angst-ridden), I've done another episode flip, so now this fic is both the aftermath of "Falling" and an AU of "Worlds Finest", with an AU of "Manhunter" coming later, since J'onn didn't reveal himself as an alien it stands to reason that in the What we are-verse "Worlds Finest" would follow directly after "Falling". Anyway, hope that makes sense, now ONWARDS!!!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And I’ve fallen on my face  
Fallen out of taxis  
Out of windows, too  
Fell in your opinion  
When I fell in love with you

\--Florence + the Machine: “Falling”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

“So, what did you want to talk about, Clark?” I asked as we landed on a bluff overlooking the city, he was silent for a moment before he spoke

“I wanted to see how Kara’s doing” he finally answered

“Was that you’re only reason for coming here?” I wondered, he smirked and shook his head

“I was actually in the neighborhood tracking down that weapon those bank robbers were using, it was stolen from a lab in Metropolis a few weeks ago, I finally tracked it down here,” he shrugged “I guess, ever since what happened last week…” he trailed off

“Crime in National City has risen by over forty percent since last week,” I nodded “without the public’s faith in Supergirl, criminals have become more brazen,” I frowned at him “you’ve encountered that…red kryptonite before, haven’t you?” he nodded

“Once. Lex Luthor came up with a version of it about ten years ago,” he explained “it didn’t make me go on a rampage, but it made me…selfish, apathetic, I didn’t care about anything besides sitting on my butt all day, the effects wore off after about a day thankfully”

“Obviously, Maxwell Lord’s version was more advanced” I noted grimly, he nodded

“Looks like,” he agreed “I guess what I’m trying to say is, if Kara needs to talk, I’m only a phone call away”

“Why tell me this?” I wondered “why not simply tell James, or Alex, or even Kara herself?” he chuckled

“You don’t miss a thing, do you?” I shook my head

“Not usually, no”

“James told me that you and Alex are…dating, I guess I just…” he trailed off, looking uncomfortable, as if he wasn’t sure how to continue without fear of insulting or offending me

“You wanted to see if it was genuine,” I reasoned “if what Alex and I have is real”

“Something like that,” he admitted “not that I don’t trust Alex’s judgment,” he added quickly “and I’m not trying to tell her how to run her life, or who to date, but…”

“If you truly believed that I would hurt Alex or Kara, you would kept me imprisoned in that Fortress of yours,” I pointed out “but, if it will make you feel better, I will tell you what I told Kara, I love Alex, completely, utterly, there is no force on this world or any other that would ever make me hurt her” I explained, Clark nodded

“That’s all I wanted to hear” he said  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

“Nice of you to call” I sighed

“I’m sorry” I apologized, Alex waved a hand dismissively

“James came by earlier, dropped off the groceries” she explained

“That was nice of him,” I noted, she nodded “how are you feeling?” I asked, she groaned

“I don’t know,” she sighed “Kara saw the news and now all of a sudden wants to move to Metropolis to help Clark out”

“No she doesn’t, she just wants to avoid her problems here” I pointed out as I joined Alex on the couch

“I know, and I tired to tell her that, but…” she trailed off and leaned against me

“I know” I sighed as I pulled her close when her cell phone rang

“Oh, god, what now?” she pulled it out “Danvers…whoa, whoa, Winn, slow down! Now _what_ happened with Siobhan?”


	4. The Banshee's Call, Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Siobhan changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! FINALLY Part Six of What we are has been updated!!!! HA-HA-HA!!! I hope everyone enjoys this part and special thanks to fritokays who is apparently What we are's superfan, so thanks a bunch hon, your praise got me updating this series again (YAY!!)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

“What is she?” Winn demanded softly as we watched Siobhan being examined by Alex and Dr. Hamilton through the observation widow

“She’s not a Fort Rozz escapee,” I confirmed “we checked”

“And you’re sure you don’t recognize her from Krypton?” he asked

“Winn, Krypton was a _planet_ ,” I pointed out “do _you_ know everyone on Earth?”

“She fell _four stories_ , Astra,” he exclaimed “and there’s not a scratch on her, the only other people I know who are capable of that are you and Kara”

“Well maybe _she_ should be National City’s new superhero” Kara muttered darkly as she came up to us

“I saw that, uh, winning the people back isn’t going so well” Winn commented

“I have tried _everything_ that I can think of,” Kara exclaimed “last night, I helped a family assemble their IKEA table! It’s still not enough”

“Winn, could you…?” I began, he nodded

“I’ll send you the link” he confirmed

“Nice to see you’re both so sympathetic,” Kara muttered, she sighed “just one mistake…that’s all it took, to erase all the good I did”

“Kara, you were poisoned,” I exclaimed “that wasn’t your fault”

“They don’t know that,” Kara flung an arm out, indicating the world at large “all people know is that this symbol,” she firmly tapped the Crest of El on her chest “doesn’t mean what it used to”

“Alex, Dr. Hamilton,” Winn sat up as Alex and Dr. Hamilton walked in “how’s Siobhan?” he asked “how, how’d she survive her, her…belly flop onto the sidewalk?”

“As near as we can figure,” Alex began “she generated a high-frequency sonic pulse that cushioned her fall and literally _pulverized_ the cement”

“So, you’re saying…,” Winn began uncertainly “that the girl that I’ve been…you know, is, a…you know, an…alien?” he glanced at Kara and myself “not that there’s anything wrong with that!” he said quickly

“Thanks” Alex muttered

“And, no,” Dr. Hamilton confirmed “DNA analysis confirms that she’s one hundred percent human”

“Then how does she have this power?” I inquired, they both shrugged

“You believe in miracles?” Alex wondered as Siobhan stalked out of the isolation lab, glowering at Alex and Dr. Hamilton as she passed

“So, none of you knows what’s wrong with me?” she demanded “thanks a lot” she muttered as she grabbed her jacket from Winn and stalked out, Winn hurrying to follow

“And he’s actually…. _dating_ her?” I asked, unable to keep the incredulity out of my voice, Kara nodded

“Yep” she confirmed

“I really thought that he’d have better taste in women” Alex muttered

“I think we all thought that, love” I muttered


	5. The Banshee's Call, Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Siobhan reaches her tipping point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update!!!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Kara**

I looked at the ding of the elevator, seeing Siobhan march into the room, I watched as Winn rushed over to her

“Uh, Siobhan what are you doing here?” he asked as he followed her, even as she kept stalking forward, clearly on a mission “uh, gentle reminder, you were banned from the building,” Winn tried “if Cat sees you she’s going to call security, or worse get a restraining order, which is like her favorite thing to get people” I watched as Siobhan threw out a hand and knocked Winn to the floor

“Ker-ah, call security,” Ms. Grant ordered me without even bothering to look up from her phone “I haven’t see eyes that crazy since I had fondue with Ramona Singer”

“Siobhan, I’m sorry, but you can’t be here” I said, I tried to keep my voice as low and gentle as possible, the way she was looking at me reminded me of a shark, her eyes cold and dead

“You ruined my life, Kara Danvers” she whispered, then she opened her mouth and _screamed_ , I distantly heard someone, maybe James, yell for me, but I wasn’t sure. The next thing I knew I was being thrown out the window, I could feel the wind rushing past my face but I couldn’t do anything about it since my head was pounding, and then suddenly something grabbed me and took off, landing on the roof of the building

“Kara?! Kara? Answer me! Kara!” I blinked, trying to get the dizziness and the headache to go away as I focused on a slightly-blurry Aunt Astra. She breathed a sigh of relief “we really must stop meeting like this, little one,” she sighed “it’s becoming a habit”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Once I could stand still without feeling like I was going to throw up, we went back inside to the Superlair (Winn’s words, not mine)

“Ugh, I think I preferred a hangover to this” I muttered as I sank down on the couch

“I think I would too,” Astra agreed as someone knocked on the door “it’s open, boys” she called out, I looked up as James and Winn hurried in

“Hey, you’re OK” James sighed

“Of course she is,” Astra muttered “did you doubt me, James?”

“I’m fine,” I sighed even as he grabbed me and pulled me into a hug and just kind of held me “Winn are you OK? What happened to Siobhan?”

“I’m fine, after she went all…Mariah Cary on you, she split” he explained

“To parts unknown, no doubt” Astra muttered as she fiddled with the computers

“Aunt Astra, what are you doing?”

“I’m attempting to track her,” Astra explained “assuming that she now generates these sonic pulses on a constant basis, then we should be able to track her by measuring the ambient sound throughout the city, anything that matches Siobhan’s scream should indicate her location”

“Hey, cool” Winn agreed

“Thank you, Winn, and I’m sorry that your relationship ended so badly” he waved a hand

“Ah, it’s all right, we actually hadn’t even gone on date really, it was mostly, uh…” he stopped, blushing “you know” he muttered

“Intimately” she drawled

“Can we talk about something else?” I asked “please?”

“I know,” James said suddenly “why don’t we all get some lunch”

“There’s a thought” Astra agreed, her cell phone suddenly rang

“Who do you know that has Florence + the Machine’s _Drumming Song_ as a ringtone?” I wondered

“Your sister,” she answered the call “hello, love…no, I’m with Kara, why?...who is ‘Leslie Willis’?”


	6. Duos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James and Alex have a talk, and Astra and Kara face down Livewire and the Silver Banshee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Welcome to another update of Part Six of What we are, hope you guys enjoy it :-)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

I looked up when Kara and Astra landed in the DEO, a queasy-looking Winn with them, I sympathize, Kara flies way too fast

“How did Leslie get out in the first place?” Kara demanded

“Siobhan Smythe” I answered

“What? How? Why?” Kara demanded

“When Ms. Smythe was being escorted out she came across Willis during meal time, heard her talk about wanting to kill your boss” J’onn explained

“And Siobhan wants a partner to kill me and Ms. Grant” Kara figured

“How’d Cat take the news?” I asked, Kara shook her head

“She’s staying put” she explained

“Mr. Schott,” J’onn called out “I’m assuming there’s a reason they brought you here?” Winn blinked, looking startled

“Uh, yeah, I can help you guys find Leslie, if, if you want” he finally said, J’onn merely nodded to a chair

“Have a seat” he instructed  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

“Agent Danvers?” Vasquez called out “James Olsen’s here” I nodded

“Show him in,” she tapped her comm. and a few seconds later James was escorted in. He nodded politely at the agent who had escorted him and turned to watch Kara and Astra both watching Winn work his magic at the computers, Kara giggling at something Astra said “I know that look,” I commented as I came up to him “I used to get that same jealous kind of sneer on my face whenever I saw her doing something”

“Sneer?” he echoed “I wasn’t…no, this?” he waved a hand over his face “that was just allergies”

“Sure, and I’m Mary, Queen of Scotts” he sighed

“Look, I just came here to see what I could do to help,” he explained, he sighed “when Siobhan attacked Kara, I just felt so… _helpless_ ”

“And what would you have done?” I asked “attack the scream queen with a chair? Get your own brain pulped as a result? James, you can help her by just being ‘James Olsen’, you don’t need a cape to be a hero,” he chuckled, clearly not believing me “I mean it,” I insisted “when I joined the DEO I thought I was doing it to protect Kara, which I was, but I later realized that I was also doing it because I wanted to be a hero too, I wanted to be like Superman, like what Kara is now. It took me a long time before I realized that I was already a hero, _because_ I was Kara’s sister, not in spite of it, I’m her lighting rod, I’m the person who keeps her grounded, who reminds her of what she’s fighting for, who she comes to when she needs to just be ‘Kara Danvers’ and not Supergirl, you can too”

“What about Astra?” he wondered “don’t you get a little…weirded out knowing that your girlfriend has superpowers and you don’t?” I shook my head

“There’s no shame in being the sidekick, James, because we _help_ them”

“We found Livewire!” Kara called out, James and I rushed forward

“That’s great news!” James exclaimed

“Actually, credit must go to Winn for this” Astra explained

“Of course it does” James muttered

“Yeah,” Winn nodded “I wrote an algorithm to track changes in meter usage throughout the city,” he explained “and there’s a lot of power being used by this abandoned warehouse” he nodded to the screen

“I’ll get a strike team ready” I said

“No,” Kara said quickly “she’s too dangerous”

“Then how you suggest we proceed?” Astra wondered

“We stop the bad girl, put her back her where she can’t hurt anyone, eighty-five percent chance of punching” Kara explained

“Yes,” Astra said slowly “but what’s the plan? Maybe we can overload her charge somehow?”

“Yeah, what about the industrial capacitor you were going to use to trap her in last time?” Winn asked, Kara shook her head

“No, it went busto”

“Well, come on, Dynamic Duo here will build you a new one!” Winn gestured between himself and Astra

“We are not calling ourselves that” she told him firmly, actually turning down a high-five for once

“There’s no time,” Kara insisted “if we wait, we lose her, and if we lose her, god knows where she’ll go and who she’ll hurt. I defeated her once, I can defeat her again,” she turned to leave “with your help” she added, Astra smirked

“Of course” she drawled  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Kara**

“Are you sure this is the right place?” I asked as we landed

“I sincerely hope so” Astra muttered, wrinkling her nose in disgust. There was a spark and a crackle as Leslie Willis appeared. She grinned at us

“Long time, cape and skirt,” she chuckled “didn’t think you could fight me solo so you brought your girlfriend?” she gave Astra the once-over “too bad, she’s kind of hot” she suddenly threw out her hands, two blasts of electricity shot out of her hands like whips, wrapping around Astra and hurling about ten feet _up_ and back onto a big stack of wood, she groaned and weakly sat up, gasping for breath. I looked around; spotting a fire sprinkler, if I could just douse Leslie it’d all be over, easy-peasy, but as I got ready to fire off a blast of heat vision there was a loud screech that made me cover my ears and fall to my knees, gasping for breath.

No, not a screech, a scream. I stared at the blood on my fingertips, my ears were bleeding “see, I brought a partner too,” Leslie gloated “meet the Silver Banshee” I looked up as a woman stepped out of the shadows, it took me a moment to recognize her

Siobhan

Dressed up in some pretty cool-looking skull makeup and a weird silver and black jumpsuit, but still Siobhan

“All my life,” she hissed “I thought I was cursed, but now I see, I’m cursed for the better” she let out another scream that threw me back into the stack of wood Astra was still laying on top of

“You don’t have to do this,” I gasped out once she stopped screaming “we can help you”

“Funny,” Leslie chuckled “she said the same thing to me” Siobhan chuckled

“Once you two are dead,” she rasped “I can finally give that little blonde moppet, Kara Danvers, the death she deserves”

“Perhaps Kara Danvers is stronger than you think!” I looked back to see Astra roll up into a crouch and fire off a blast of heat vision at the ceiling, there was a bang and a shower of sparks as part of the roof supports suddenly broke loose and came crashing down in front of Siobhan and Leslie. Astra quickly jumped down and grabbed me from behind in a bear hug “we won’t win this one” she said firmly, before she suddenly took off, dragging me with her


	7. Slow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Astra have a talk, and Alex gives Kara some advice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

“Here you go,” I handed Astra the ice pack, which she quickly put on her head with a sigh of relief “how’s the head?” I wondered

“Well,” she began with a groan “aside from the fact that there is a tiny person swinging a mallet around the inside of my skull, fine” I chuckled

“I wish I could do more right now than just give you an ice pack” I said wistfully, she nodded

“I know, but the less people at the DEO who know about ‘us’, the better,” she reminded me “at least Agent Vasquez holds no ill will towards me, which is more than I can say for others”

“Yeah,” I muttered “how’s Kara?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen her since she left” I nodded

“She’s probably at CatCo, I’ll go talk to her, you rest” she chuckled

"Yes, Dr. Danvers" she teased  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

I found Kara on the balcony munching on a doughnut

“Hey,” I said “how are you feeling?” she chuckled

“Aside from my head ringing like church bells, I’m…OK”

“Really?” I asked “you don’t sound OK” she sighed

“How’s Astra?”

“She’s fine, she’s got the same ‘church-bells-in-the-head’ thing, but she’s OK” I answered

“Would you tell her that I’m sorry I made her go off after Livewire without a plan?”

“Why don’t you tell her yourself?” I suggested “Kara, I know how much you want people to trust you again, but…have you considered that you’re trying a little too hard?” I took her hand “it’ll take time, but you’ll get there, just like you did the first time you came out as Supergirl, you need to go slow, rescue some kittens stuck in trees, help people fix a flat tire, little things. The chances of you saving the day in one big moment of glory are about a thousand to one, so just take it slow” she sighed

“How’d you get so smart?” she asked

“Because I’m your sister,” I told her, my cell phone buzzed “it’s Astra,” I read “she’s got an idea about how we could neutralize Siobhan’s voice”

“That’d be good,” Kara commented, she turned to leave, but stopped “uh, Alex? Could you stay here and keep an eye on Winn for a bit? I just don’t like the idea of him being all by himself with Siobhan out there” I nodded

“Sure” I said


	8. Sparks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Winn have a talk, then Livewire and Silver Banshee show up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here's another update to Part Six of What we are, enjoy!

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**Alex**

“Alex, hey, what are you doing here?” Winn stared at me as I dropped into a chair next to his desk

“Kara asked me to keep an eye on you” I explained, he blinked, looking like he wasn’t sure if he should be honored or insulted

“Uh…thanks?” he finally said “so, where _is_ Kara?”

“Back at work with Astra,” I explained “Astra’s got an idea about how we can neutralize Siobhan’s voice” he nodded

“Sounds cool”

“How are you doing?” I asked “I’m serious!” I insisted when he gave me a funny look

“I’m OK” he said

“You’re like the second person who’s said that to me today and I don’t believe either one of you” he sighed

“What do you want me say?” he groaned “I hate this, I hate the fact that Siobhan’s gone all….crazy on us”

“Do you love her?” I wondered

“I care for her” I shook my head

“That’s not the same thing,” I pointed out “do you love her?” I repeated, he shrugged

“Where is Ker-iah?” Cat’s voice suddenly demanded, she glanced around, finally spotting me “ah, the other Danvers,” she commented “when you see your sister, please tell her to book me a massage, preferably with the same phyiso who worked wonders on Beyonce after….her…super bowl…mishap…why are you looking at me like that, Winn?” she demanded

“No, no reason” he stammered out, she scowled

“You don’t need to look so concerned,” she said, turning back to her office “I’m perfectly fine” almost as soon as she said that there was a crackle of electricity and the monitors in her office filled with static and then Leslie Willis’ face

“Not good” Winn muttered

“Defiantly not good” I agreed as Leslie materialized in front of Cat, great and I didn’t bring my gun, not it would have worked against Leslie

“You should watch where you’re going, Cat,” she chuckled “or someone’s going to have to declaw you” I got to hand it to Cat, she didn’t look startled in the least

“You really need to work on your material, Leslie” she said, turning back around

“You know, your days of telling me, or my friend, what to do are over” Leslie warned, she glanced around the room, spotting myself and James, who rushed to activate his signal watch. Leslie threw out a hand, the blast of electricity hit both of us square in the chest and we dropped like a ton of bricks, getting hit by who knows how much voltage _hurts_ , and I’m just surprised that we were both still conscious and aware of our surroundings, let alone alive. All I could do was just lie there, twitching and watching as Cat’s private elevator opened and out stepped Siobhan

“Oh, yes, I see,” Cat drawled, looking more annoyed than frightened “my ex-minions are teaming up, is that it? A united front?” she turned back to Leslie “you two should see _Norma Rae_ and see how it’s really done”

“You know, Cat,” Siohhan began “your voice is almost as grating as this” she took a breath

“Siobhan, Siobhan!” Winn rushed forward, putting himself between her and Cat

“Get out of my way, Winn” she growled

“No,” he shook his head “I want to help you,” he pleaded “OK? We can you help you”

“I’m fine as is” she took a breath and screamed. As I covered my ears all I could do was watch, helpless, as the blast hit Winn at point-blank range and hurled him back about five feet, where he hit the ground, unconscious, blood oozing out of his ears. Everything got a little hazy after that, I distinctly remember hearing Leslie laughing, another scream from Siobhan, and then…nothing…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Kara**

“What are you working on?” I asked, Aunt Astra muttered something as she fiddled with a soldering iron

“All right,” she began “one of the planets I went on assignment in the Military Guild was home to race with hyper-sensitive hearing, now because of that, their technology was primarily sonic-based, including their weaponry, so…” she held up a pair of forceps

“Are those…earbuds?” I asked, she nodded

“Mmm, they should block and cancel out Ms. Smyth’s sonic attacks” I grinned

“Cool!”

“Don’t cheer yet,” she warned “we have yet to test them”

“Supergirl,” I looked at J’onn “Alex just called; Silver Banshee and Livewire just attacked CatCo and kidnapped Cat Grant”

“Is Alex all right?” Astra and I both asked, he nodded

“She’s fine, although Mr. Schott had to be taken to the ER, seems he took a sound blast head on, but he was apparently awake and speaking when the paramedics took him out, so he should be fine” there was a sudden crackle and the monitors filled with Leslie Willis’ face

“ _Hey, cape and skirt, come to National City Park now, unless you want Cat’s blood on your hands…or all over the street_ ” the monitors cleared. I turned to Astra

“You don’t have to do this,” I told her “this is my fight” she chuckled

“She attacked Alex and Winn,” she reminded me “do you honestly think I would let them get away with that?” I grinned

“Then let’s go”


	9. Showdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Astra and Kara face down Livewire and the Silver Banshee again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Chapter Nine, only one more chapter to go, then onto Part Seven!

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**Kara**

“I think we found them” Astra muttered as we came in for a landing. Leslie had apparently been firing off blasts of electricity, scattering the crowd of people in the park, they had Ms. Grant cuffed to a park bench in a gazebo, she looked unharmed, which was good

“Didn’t think you’d show” Leslie commented

“Stand down!” Astra ordered “this need not end in bloodshed” Leslie chuckled and turned to Siobhan

“Kill ‘em both” she ordered, Siobhan opened her mouth and screamed, but this time, thanks to the earbuds, I barely heard the sound, it was like a slight ringing instead of a brain-melting scream. Astra grinned at me as Siobhan took a breath, looking surprised

“I love it when I’m right” Astra muttered, I took a step forward

“What? You lose your voice?” I taunted

“Don’t taunt the enemy, dear” Astra warned me. Siobhan turned to Leslie, furious

“What are you waiting for?!” she demanded

“Watch who yell at!” Leslie threw out two blasts, one from each hand, Astra and I both dodged, I shot up and she shot forward, knocking Leslie and Siobhan to the ground. Leslie sat up and then shot into a streetlight, disappearing in a crackle and a shower of sparks

“I got her!” I watched as Astra took off, following the shimmer up the side of a building. With Siobhan out of the fight for the moment I landed and hurried over to Ms. Grant. She held up her cuffed hands expectantly

“What took you?” she demanded

“Your kidding, right?” I snapped both of the cuffs easy, but then a hand grabbed my arm, I turned to see Siobhan’s face about an inch from mine. She swung back a hand and punched me across the jaw and I went sailing away, this was bad, she was almost as strong as me. I got back to my feet and punched a hole in the concrete of one of the walkways, pulling a big chuck of it and then threw it at Siobhan like a Frisbee, she just screamed at it, turning it to dust. She straightened up as a dazed-looking Astra landed next to me, she looked like a cartoon character who stuck their finger in a light socket, her hair was even a little frazzled, but she stood up proud and tall as Leslie reappeared next to Siobhan, looking up as an NCPD helicopter flew overhead

“I _HATE_ HELICOPTERS!!!” Leslie suddenly roared, firing off two more blasts at the chopper. If you asked me what happened next I couldn’t really tell you, all I can tell you is that Astra and I both shot up, throwing ourselves in front of the blast, which _hurt_ , it felt like my bones were on fire, I could see Astra jerking next to me as we both fell, too tired and weak to try and stop, the next thing I remember is lying on the ground, every part of me still burning, Astra weakly sitting up over me as a crowd of people surrounded us, but they weren’t attacking us, they were _protecting_ us, forming a human wall around us

“Leave them alone!” one woman ordered

“Last week you were ready to string them up!” Leslie spat “now you’re willing to die for them?” the same woman pulled herself up proudly

“They were willing to die for us” she said simply, Leslie grinned, floating up on two arcs, that’s it, that’s the word, arcs of electricity from her hands

“What’d you say we thin the herd?” she asked, just as a spray of water hit her in the back, shorting her out, a blast of electricity suddenly shot out from Leslie’s body and hit Siobhan, knocking her off her feet and knocking her out. I blinked as I saw where the water came from

A fire truck

The two firemen shut off the hose and hurried over to us, even as the crowd kept clapping and cheering. One of them smiled at Astra and me

“Surpergirl, Superwoman,” he held out his hands, one to each of us “we figured it was time we helped you” he said as we both weakly grinned each other and took his hands and pulled ourselves up

“We did it,” I realized as the firemen checked on the people in the crowd, making sure no one was injured “we won” Astra shook her head

“No,” she said “ _you_ did it, little one, this is your victory, not mine” with that she took off, shooting up into the sky…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

“ _In a remarkable display of city unity, ordinary people stood up today, braving facing down Livewire and her partner in defense of Supergirl, it seems that Supergirl is once again National City’s hero. In related news, people are still asking questions about the mysterious ‘Superwoman’, who left today almost as soon as Livewire was defeated by members of the NCFD, which has people wondering if we’ll see her again?_ ”

“So,” Winn began as he shifted on the gurney “will we see Superwoman again?”

“No,” I shook my head “I believe she’s is going into retirement”

“Already?” he asked “too bad, it was kind of cool having another superhero out there”

“One is enough, thank you” I told him, he chuckled

“So, what happened to Leslie and Siobhan?” he wondered

“As far as I know they’re both being taken back to the DEO,” I explained, I glanced down as my cell phone buzzed “speaking of which, text from Alex”

“You’d better go,” Winn told me “I’ll be fine”

“Get well,” I told him “and try not stand in front of anymore sonic-producing metahumans, hmm?” he chuckled

“No promises” he teased as I turned to leave, I jumped as I nearly collided with an enormous bouquet of flowers

“Oh, hey Astra!” I blinked

“Lucy? Is that you under there?” the bouquet rustled as she nodded “for Winn I take it?”

“Yep” I chuckled

“Well, I’ll leave you to it” I paused as I turned to leave, watching as Lucy swiftly set the bouquet down and happy sat down next to Winn

Interesting  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

“You’re late,” I noted as I lead Astra into the lower levels of the DEO “I texted you five minutes ago”

“I was visiting Winn” she explained

“How’s he doing?” I asked

“He’s tired and he has a headache, but fortunately there’s no permanent hearing loss or brain damage”

“You mean aside from the brain he already had when he started dating that chick?”

“Very funny,” she drawled “so, why was I called in?”

“Prisoner transfer,” J’onn “we’re moving Parasite into a new, stronger cell and putting Leslie Willis into his old one” Astra nodded

“I see, and you asked me here to be what? Bait?” J’onn chuckled

“Nothing so obscene, no we called you here, because since Jones has been cut off from anything he could use as a food source he’s been weaker, so hopefully if he tries to escape, you should be able to handle him without too much problems”

“We hope” I muttered, J’onn nodded as he tapped his comm.

“Astra’s here, we’re ready” there was a buzz as two agents in protective, insulated suits marched over, carrying a heavy, coffin-like box which held a still pissed Leslie Willis. In front of us, the heavy door unlocked and slowly slid open like something out of a horror movie. Four agents stepped out, leading a weak and almost-emaciated looking Rudy Jones—a.k.a Parasite—with them, for a moment all Jones did was hiss and growl slightly, but nothing else.

That all changed once he passed the box holding Leslie Willis.

With a growl, he suddenly broke out of the cuffs and smashed a hand into the box, draining one of the agents at the same time right through his insulated suit. Sparks shot out as Jones swiftly drained Leslie Willis, no doubt killing her in seconds. He turned, spotting Astra

“ ** _More,_** ” he rasped out, lunging. He threw me and J’onn aside and pinned Astra to the wall “ ** _give it to me!!_** ” I drew my gun and started firing, but Jones had already drained Astra’s invulnerability, and the bullets just bounced off him. To my left I saw a flash of red, I watched, horrified, as J’onn shifted, changed, transforming into his true form, all in front of at least half a dozen agents. With a roar, he charged, knocking Jones off Astra and pinning him to the ground, dodging one punch from Jones and then phasing through another, finally grabbing Jones in a headlock and then, with one twist, easily broke his neck.

I rushed over to Astra, she was pale and gaunt, but still breathing. I looked back up at J’onn

“Go,” I pleaded as the surviving agents swiftly surrounded him, guns drawn “please!” he looked over at us, winked, and then slowly tipped his head back, shifting and changing back into Hank Hemshaw before slowly lacing his hands behind his head and getting down on his knees, allowing the agents to handcuff him and lead him away…


	10. Two of a kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here we are, the final chapter of Part Six of What we are, now...onto to Part Seven!! Let me know what you thought, and I'm sorry it took me so long to update this thing, but, here we are...ONWARDS!!!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

“Hey, you’re all right! Just breathe,” I winced as Astra coughed and wheezed for breath as she woke up “you’re in the infirmary” I told her

“Wha, what happened?” she asked weakly, I sighed

“Rudy Jones,” I explained “apparently, while he’s been locked in his cell all this time, he found a loose floor panel and tore it up and got at the conduits underneath” she nodded as she slowly sat, swinging her legs off the sunebed

“Then all he had to do was bide his time until we opened the cell and he could feed off more….appetizing meal sources” she reasoned, I nodded

“Yeah, something like that” I muttered

“What of Leslie Willie?” I shook my head

“Dead, he drained her while she was still locked inside the containment unit,” I repressed a shudder “I won’t be crying over her anytime soon, but still…no one deserves to die like that, trapped in a box, unable to defend themselves” I added, Astra frowned at me, a look of horror crossing her face

“Alex…,” she began slowly “what about J’onn?”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

I winced as I managed to shuffle into J’onn’s cell. He looked up as I entered, the relief clear, even on his borrowed face

“Glad to see you’re up and about” he commented

“I wish I could say the same,” I told him as I shuffled over to the cell proper, leaning against the transparency for support “why didn’t you run?” I wondered “with your abilities you could have vanished, disappeared into the proverbial ether” I pointed out

“What would have done in my place?” he asked, I chuckled as I got my answer

“I would spend a thousand years in that cell as long as it meant that Kara and Alex were safe,” I replied, I could feel my strength returning as I put a hand on the transparency “I’ll get you out of here, J’onn” I vowed

“Why bother?” he wondered “you have no ties to me” I shook my head

“Because you’re important to Alex, and that makes you important to me,” I replied “because you’re more than just my commanding officer, because we’re alike, we both endured unimaginable horrors, lost more than any one person should be forced to in a single lifetime. Because, Martian, you’re my family now” he chuckled as he put his hand on the transparency over mine

“El maya” he said simply, I nodded

“Stronger together” I replied

**END**

**Author's Note:**

> Stay tuned for a guest appearance by Superman


End file.
